


Osoji

by dracoglacies



Series: Yukari is a Goddess [3]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Trauma, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reimu is 12 why am I doing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 15:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16161725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracoglacies/pseuds/dracoglacies
Summary: It was the day for Osoji, and Reimu started her duties to the Goddess. What was found wasn't what she expected, after all, what was buried was better to stay buried wasn't it?Warning: Non-permanent character death since I'm not sure if that counts in the archive warning or not.





	Osoji

Cold was the first thing that passed through Reimu’s thoughts when she walked to the storage behind the Shrine. The snow hadn’t really started to build up, but the winds were too cold.

 

When the storage finally came into view, she hurried and unlocked the front door to go in. It wasn’t hot enough to warm her body up, but at least it let her out of the cold.

 

Now then, to start the cleaning! She looked around.

 

A blink, more unbelieving stare before she finally could accept that what she was seeing was real.

 

The whole place was full, crammed with all sort of knick-knacks from papers to… whatever that doll was. She ensured she had a good distance from it, she had bad feeling from that one.

 

_ Is this why Ran was so adamant I shouldn’t go here? _

 

Well… no harm’s done so far, probably the only harm was with how much dust she was inhaling just by standing near the entrance. How long had it been since someone last came in here?

 

Shaking her head determinedly, Reimu started the cleaning, at the very least the front part of the storage.

 

As she let out coughs and sneezes thanks to all the dust, she finally took some refuge back to the outside. It felt clean and crisp. A few moment for herself as she looked at the trees, most of them already shed their leaves in the past weeks.

 

“While it’s a bit too cold outside, the dust is absolutely nasty…” She sighed, but she still had to finish was she set out to do. So turning around, she was about to walk back in.

 

That was then she felt  _ something _ , not anything strong, just a slight tugging of aura? Magic?

 

She was sure she never felt this one before, Yukari’s was deeper and calmer, while Ran’s felt all kind of proper and controlled, and Chen’s… hers was wild. This one… if she was to put a word on it, felt wild, but instead of the cheerfulness she knew she could feel from Chen’s, it gave a dangerous tang in the air.

 

Curiosity piqued, and cleaning forgotten, she immediately followed the magic. It was easy, the strength was palpable and it differed enough from the normal magic that had settled around the shrine.

 

And the source was a hokora. It was small and dusty, and with the amount of… filth around it, she was sure that no one had come to this shrine for a long, long time.

 

_ I wonder why Ran didn’t clean this one? She always ensured everywhere was as clean as possible… Then again she didn’t clean the storage too, did she? _

 

Peering closer, the magic was stronger here, but there was… something else? Some sort of barrier… She wondered what that was as she went through the shielding.

 

Then a cracking sound coupled with an explosion of power.

 

A stranger’s voice called out, “Such a strong body~ Don’t mind me if I take it!”

 

And there was only darkness.

* * *

 

When she finally came to, her head was pounding. It felt like someone decided to beat her head all over and then left her alone. She wanted to lie down more on the cold soil, but that was a bad idea wasn’t it?

 

Wait, what about that voice she heard…?

 

Standing up rapidly (and having to endure the slight nausea), she looked around. What stared at her was only the hokora in front of her, dusty but nothing weirder than that. The barrier was still there too.

 

Add the fact that there was no more magic in the air, it all pretty much casted doubt to what she thought happened. Was that all only a weird dream concocted by her mind? Maybe she was tired?

 

After thinking about it for a while without any sort of conclusion, she decided to just let it be and-

 

Her stomach rumbled.

 

“... I wonder if Ran has finished cooking…” She knew the others were just about to prepare for lunch when she went to clean up the storage- oops, she left that unlocked didn’t she? Well, nothing’s important there so there shouldn’t be any problem right…

 

Food first though! She could finish up her cleaning after filling her stomach.

 

With excitement she immediately half flew, half ran straight back to the shrine. While Yukari had gone into her hibernation, the other two would be around.

 

But what greeted her when she was back at the shrine was- emptiness. There was no sound, no feeling of magic… It chilled her. The shrine was  _ never _ empty-- not since that day mother died.

 

She needed to calm down even as her thoughts were swirling madly. It was easy to imagine both Ran and Chen suddenly having things to do and leaving (but that didn’t explain how there wasn’t even a trace of their magic), but Yukari? She was supposed to be  _ asleep _ .

 

Slowly Reimu searched through the shrine, even the improbable places because with Yukari’s ability she could be using even small spaces.

 

And yet, nothing was found. Not to count that she also noted how her room had only one futon in it.

 

_ BOOM! _

 

An explosion from the shrine grounds?! No time to think about this mystery of a single futon-

 

The moment she got out she regretted that thought. A crater greeted her, with the blonde witch sitting right in the middle of it. “Marisa… what did you do? I hope you have a very good explanation for this.”

 

Marisa herself looked fine as she slowly got out of the crater with her broom, or what was left of it anyway. “Yo, Reimu~ It’s just an accident, I was trying this new spell of mine to speed up my flight but it doesn’t seem to be working haha.”

 

The other was grinning, but Reimu could only sigh. It was Marisa, she probably couldn’t help it. “Fine, fine. You’ll help me in fixing this though! Ran will be angry if you didn’t do at least  _ that _ much.” A small grin appeared on her face 

 

What she didn’t expect though was the questioning look Marisa gave her. “Who is Ran, Reimu? Did you meet someone new while I wasn’t around?” The witch grinned, nudging her teasingly.

 

Surely she heard wrong right? There was no way Marisa didn’t know who Ran was. “Y-You didn’t know who Ran was? What about… Chen? Yukari? I know you had mock fights with Chen often…” Her voice was cracking now, there was  _ no way _ Marisa didn’t know Chen at least.

 

Marisa played with the bakeneko a lot, especially since she was one of the most active out of them all and only the combined stamina of the two of them would Chen finally be tired. But the look Marisa was giving…

 

“Uh… Sorry Reimu.” Marisa’s look was apologetic. “But you are worrying me now. You sure you are okay? Heck, we can go to the village, get some food or something.”

 

She felt paralyzed. Everything felt  _ wrong _ and she wanted to  _ scream _ . No way,  _ no way _ ,  **_no way!_ **

 

Marisa mistook her silence as something else and Reimu barely registered the panicking look. “Uh- uhm, I’ll pay! You didn’t get many donations, didja?” Marisa gave her a weak grin as she squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t look so glum, okay?”

 

That touch let her focus back to the current situation. She couldn’t panic now, she couldn’t. It was hard, and the longer she was silent, the more worried Marisa look and she couldn’t let  _ that _ be. “I-I’m okay.” Her voice still shook, and the look Marisa gave her showed that she didn’t manage to even reassure the other if how her hand squeezed her shoulder again was any indication.

 

“Right, let’s just-” Whatever Marisa was about to say, it was cut off by a massive roar.

 

**_GGRRROOOOOOAAARRR!!_ **

 

Whatever Marisa was about to say, it was cut off by a massive roar.Even the ground itself felt like it was shaking while the roar was happening. What was weird was that Reimu thought it was  _ familiar _ . Like she had heard it before, but her memory on that was fuzzy- was there blood?

 

“That sounds like something huge!” Marisa gave her another worried look before it changed to determined. “Reimu, in your current condition you won’t be able to do anything. I’ll go first.” And when Marisa said that, one knew she would move  _ quick _ .

 

Reimu couldn’t even say any words before Marisa had blasted off- and Reimu knew she had to stop her. Her thoughts were pretty much screaming at her that she needed to stop Marisa or she would regret it.

 

As she immediately flew to chase after Marisa, it felt like Marisa’s look was changed to  _ someone else _ entirely. Someone she knew and  _ cared _ for. Not that that meant she didn’t care for Marisa, she did. This was different though, it was someone she had forgotten…

 

Her sight slowly blurred as tears fell; no matter how quick she was, Marisa seemed to go further and further and she could see the source of disturbance now.

 

It was  _ huge _ , and the smell was so foul that she wanted to hurl even from her distance. She didn’t know how Marisa could stand it from her own distance. As she flew closer, she could pick out more of  _ its _ form. It was like someone shaped a dragon crudely with half melted wax, if that wax was made from oil. The movement was slow, but each step it took was killing everything around it.

 

She could see a  _ huge _ trail of oil from behind the…  _ thing _ , and from the oil she could see more things coming out, alive and all made of  _ oil _ .

 

Her eyes widened with realisation, she had to hurry- Marisa was out of her depths here.

 

_ No time, Marisa wouldn’t be safe _ .

 

She flew as fast as she could towards the dragonthing, her mind still making her see double, the same  _ thing _ , just that it wasn’t Marisa, it was someone else and her mind felt like it was buzzing and she couldn’t  _ think _ .

 

It didn’t matter how fast she was.

 

Because she was always too late.

 

Her flight slowly ground to a stop as she watched everything happening in slow motion, how Marisa/ _ mother _ flew close to the thing, both of them seeming to overlap with each other now, different and yet the  _ same _ as Marisa didn’t use her hakkero, instead having a magic circle around her, the power palpable even from where she was (while  _ mother _ seemingly coated herself with magic power).

 

But what happened next was eerily similar. The dragonthing was roaring and its mouth opened and Reimu just  _ knew _ what it would do next.

 

She tried to get to them, but the distance stayed the same and she couldn’t do  _ anything _ .

 

It moved so fast that it seemed like a blur, how both of them got bitten-

 

And  _ crunch _ .

 

Reimu screamed.

 

Blood flowed down from its jaw.

 

It was the same.

 

It was the  _ same _ .

 

She was the same weak kid as she was then. She couldn’t save Marisa. She couldn’t save mother. She was  _ weak _ .

 

Her power swirled around her, she didn’t need this world. Nothing was right. Everything was wrong.

 

Everything felt like it was buzzing and everything was so  _ wrong _ …

 

It was better for everything to be  _ gone _ .

* * *

 

Yukari woke with urgency. Winter usually was quite safe for her to leave it on Reimu’s and Ran’s hands, and staying awake nearly all the time was  _ exhausting _ . But she could feel how the Barrier was fluctuating madly.

 

Not to count the strong magic power that Yukari could swear was something she had felt so long ago. Wild, dangerous, familiar… She checked through various boundaries, feeling as much as she could around the parameter of the Shrine.

 

What she found was one destroyed hokora with the seal in tatters.

 

It was that one  _ ghost _ . Yukari was tempted to just go back to sleep, Ran could handle this right…?

 

But another shudder ran through the Barrier and Yukari forced herself to be awake. Not to count her connection with Reimu felt weirdly distant, as if muffled by something else…

 

_ Don’t tell me… _

 

A quick gap later, her fears were shown to be true. Reimu and Ran were fighting each other, but that  _ wasn’t _ Reimu. She could see the green eyes imposing over Reimu’s dark brown, and the magic? Yeah, that was painfully obvious.

 

The fight was pretty one sided, Ran couldn’t use up most of her powers thanks to the fact that she was trying to not hurt Reimu and her enemy? She could fire at will.

 

For a bit, Yukari pondered if she could sacrifice her, but then there would be no Shrine Maiden for a while… And leaving Mima in that body was recipe for disaster, the fluctuation by the Barrier was also distracting her from thinking through this calmly.

 

As time passed, Yukari felt like this would be the first time she would be forced to put down her own Shrine Maiden. But in the end, what was important would be the Gensokyo’s existence…

 

_ I’m sorry, Reimu… _ The thought gave her a small pang and she shook it away. She was only using those Shrine Maiden.

 

That was then she felt it, her connection to Reimu blazed back to life, with Mima’s own imposed image wavering, flickering back and forth.

 

She renewed her own preparation, changing its aim from destroying to sealing once again. Maybe it would be better to exorcise Mima off, but at the same time the other was still a  _ youkai _ .

 

And now, with the spell under Ran’s control (She was always a good shiki), she pushed herself into a gap she just made.

 

While she was still the Mistress of the Boundaries, this one was one of the most dangerous to be trifled with, the Boundary of Souls.

 

The only reason she had an idea where to even start it would be thanks to the fact Reimu was  _ hers _ .

 

Where she ended up wasn’t what she expected though. It was Gensokyo, the feel was the same, from the barrier, the mountain, the village…

 

Second inspection showed what  _ farce _ these all were though, the barriers were only pretending to be the same, but underneath it was designed to trap, and how best to trap a soul? Break them.

 

(There was another way, but breaking was the easier choice)

 

She didn’t know how long Reimu had been in here, but she had to hurry.

* * *

 

It was cold, but cold was good. Cold meant she was alone, but wasn’t it better to be alone? One wouldn’t feel hurt when they were alone.

 

Others were constant source of pain.

 

_ But you are healed by others. _

 

They were gone too!

 

_ Doesn’t mean what they did end up as nothing. _

 

It’ll hurt again.

 

_ Is it so regrettable? _

 

Yes, yes it is. But then, why did it still hurt? She didn’t want to remember… It was better to sink away, to hide, to not face the truth.

 

**_Yes, isn’t that better? Hide, hide away from this cruel world…_ **

 

The cold spread slowly and she didn’t fight it. What for? There was nothing…

 

_ “Reimu.” _

 

She twitched, it was a very familiar voice. But that was impossible wasn’t it? Marisa had said they weren’t there (Her memories let her hear a distinct sound of crunching bones. She held back her nausea and managed).

 

And then she was held and she finally feel  _ something _ again. The cold receded, and energy started to come back. Slowly, she opened her eyes and Yukari’s worried face looked back at her. “Y-Yukari-”  _ Are you real? _ Was what she wanted to say, but the voice wouldn’t come.

 

The goddess stroke her hair, calming her down and slowly convince her that yes, this was real. But then…

 

“Hush now, this will all seem like bad dream when you wake up.” It was gentle, and once again Reimu was pushed into unconsciousness.

* * *

 

_ A few hours later… _

 

“Yukari-sama, the seal has been finished.” Ran murmured, bowing to her as low as possible. She knew why she was doing that, she failed in her duties. “Is Re- the Shrine Maiden well?” She stopped herself before saying her name.

 

Silence stretched between the two of them for a while, Ran kept her head bowed even so. She could stand doing this until Yukari told her to finally move, after all it was normal if she was to leave her like this for a week-

 

“Do you know what your mistake was?” Her voice was soft, sign of her anger.

 

Without waiting too long, Ran started answering. “Letting the Shrine Maiden without a supervision to the storage.”  _ And am I lucky that she didn’t stumble on more dangerous seals. _ “Not managing to drive the ghost off her body. Not keeping Gensokyo’s barrier stable…”

 

A sound of fan snapping, Ran stopped.

 

“Good. Then I trust you to take care of her again, this time  _ better _ . It’s still winter, after all.” This time, her voice was back to normal and inwardly, Ran had to sigh in relief. “Don’t forget your other duties.”

 

“Yes, Yukari-sama.” She murmured in reply as her presence vanished from her position.

 

_ Once she wakes up, I wonder if the Shrine Maiden will forgive me. _

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that this new entry was a delight to read! It wasn't exactly easy to write them, but I think I like the end result ^w^ (Sorry Reimu!)
> 
> As usual, if you have comments/critiques etc just leave a comment below! I'll answer any questions as best as I can too :)


End file.
